Govt to tighten laws, expand FTC powers over ‘poor’ utilities service

The government is to review utilities regulation in the coming financial year, with legislative reforms planned to boost service standards and strengthen the Fair Trading Commission’s authority over consumer protection, commerce minister Kerrie Symmonds announced in Parliament on Friday.

The issue arose during the House Estimates on the Ministry of Energy, Business Development and Commerce, where the FTC received an allocation of $5.6 million for the 2026–27 financial year.

FTC chief executive Brian Reece told lawmakers that legislative reform will prove central to expanding the commission’s authority over service standards.

“The issue really is that we need to have legislative changes to the telecommunications legislation… Legislative reform, as far as the Utility Regulatory Act is concerned, and all aspects of the legislation that bears upon the Fair Trading Commission, is to be looked at within this financial year to try to see how we can stay abreast of the needs of the consumers.”

But Reece said the commission has been working with the Telecommunications Unit on quality‑of‑service issues and is pursuing legislative amendments to expand its authority.

“We’re presently engaged with our stakeholders in government… to seek to have the legislation adjusted so that we can broaden our mandate so that we can provide greater opportunity for the establishment of standards to ensure quality.”

He also noted that the FTC introduced a voluntary mobile telecommunications code in 2023 to standardise interactions between consumers and providers, reducing refunds secured for consumers from approximately $104 000 to about $15 000.

Minister of Public and Private Investment Indar Weir highlighted concerns about service reliability, citing delays in repairing damaged lines and mobile coverage dead zones.

“For example, it took all of four weeks for one service provider to address a fallen line in a community in my constituency and then if you were to be traversing Barbados somewhere between South District and St George, down to Bussa [roundabout], if you’re using your mobile phone you have no service; it just drops out on the highway as well.

“You dare not have an online meeting travelling in your vehicle on certain parts of Barbados because you can very well be cut off from that meeting due to the poor service delivery.”

Symmonds said his ministry will work with the FTC to address the issue.

“I want to say to you that my senior team will reach to you or your team with a view to us pooling our resources to advance this particular issue and to wrestle it to the ground.” 

Weir also raised concerns about the proliferation of overhead telecommunications cables across Barbados, describing them as both a safety hazard and an eyesore.

He said: “I do have a burning issue as it relates to telecommunication cables that have become a source of growing national concern for Barbadians. The untidy proliferation of overhead wires across many communities has created an unsightly landscape that distracts from the natural beauty of our country.

“In addition to the aesthetic impact, these cables pose potential safety hazards where they hang low across roadways and pedestrian ways, creating risk for both vehicular and on‑foot traffic.”

Symmonds agreed the problem had persisted for years: “It is not just a question of optics, as you put it. It is a vulgar eyesore, and all around Barbados, we see these wires hanging, and it has been so now for many years.

“It is also a question of safety… I have seen very large trucks, in fact, in the district where I live… large garbage trucks pulling down some of these same wires, and it also speaks to a third issue, which I think is the professionalism or lack thereof of the service providers.”

Reece acknowledged the concerns but explained that the placement of telecommunications lines currently falls outside the commission’s statutory mandate.

“Unfortunately and regrettably, the specific matter that’s raised, the infrastructural positioning of lines, etcetera, is not something that falls under the mandate of the Fair Trading Commission.”